Bad night for Danks, Sox
From White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's viewpoint, John Danks pitched a lot like an all-star in the first half of last season.
After the break, the rookie left-hander took a big step down.
"Last year, he started like Johan Santana,'' Guillen said. "He finished like Pedro Perez. Who is Pedro Perez? I don't know.''
It would be safe to assume the fictitious Perez is not a very good starting pitcher in Guillen's world.
In reality Wednesday night, neither was Danks.
"I wish I had an answer for you,'' Danks said after the Twins pounded the White Sox 12-5 at U.S. Cellular Field.
Entering the game with unquestionable confidence after pitching 6¿ innings at Cleveland and allowing 1 run on 2 hits in his 2008 debut, Danks struggled from the start against the Twins.
The 22-year-old starter walked the first hitter of the game, Carlos Gomez, but managed to pick the speedy center fielder off first base. After that, Danks allowed a pair of singles, another walk and a sacrifice fly as Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead and pulled away.
Lasting just 2½ innings -- the shortest outing of his career -- Danks allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.
"It was an ugly game all the way around,'' Guillen said after the White Sox' winning streak came to a screeching halt at five. "We fought, but it got to the point where we couldn't fight anymore.''
Trailing 7-0 in the third, the Sox did chip away with solo home runs by Nick Swisher, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede.
But that was no match for the collective damage the Twins did against Danks early and reliever Nick Masset later.
Danks threw 69 pitches in his short stint, setting the painful pace for the game.
"This game is all about throwing strikes, and he couldn't do it,'' Guillen said. "In the first inning, he struggled. In the second inning, he was fine. In the third inning, he lost it.''
The White Sox' only legitimate chance to get back in the game came in the fifth inning.
After Crede led off with a home run against Minnesota starter Scott Baker to cut the deficit to 7-3, Juan Uribe walked and Orlando Cabrera reached on an error after Swisher flied out.
Jim Thome popped out while continuing his early-season slump, and Konerko grounded out.
The Twins broke the game open in the sixth inning when Jason Kubel hit a grand slam off Masset.
"We got killed out there tonight,'' Konerko said. "It wasn't a heartbreaker; we just got really killed. We showed a little fight in the middle, but it was one of those games we were never really in.''
For as bad as he was, Danks gave a lot of credit to Minnesota.
"I thought I had really good stuff,'' Danks said. "Obviously, my command wasn't there, but I felt just as good as I did the first time out. Just off the top of my head, I can't put a finger on anything. (The Twins), that's a scrappy team over there. They were able to find the holes all night. They don't get enough credit.''
Twins 12, White Sox 5
At the plate: Joe Crede homered and doubled. Over his last three games, Crede is 8-for-13 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 5 RBI. Jim Thome (.156) was 0-for-4. Paul Konerko and Nick Swisher hit solo home runs.
On the mound: John Danks lasted just 2½ innings, the shortest start of his career. Nick Masset allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 3¿ innings.
-- Scot Gregor